, 1887-10-14
THE cIrv.s INJURIOUS INFLUENCES.
Those Which Chiefly Affect the Stability
of the Nervous System.

Those which Chiefly Affect the Stability
of the Nervous System.
l do not intend to discuss in this paper
h subjects of bad ventilation and i'm
pure air, imperfect drainage, damp eel
lars or insufficient nourishpent. 1 refer
to those influences which chiefly affect
the stability of the nervous system, rem
dering it less capable of sustained work
and in a secondary wa only the ~circula-
ton and general nutrition. The result of
all these influences is to lessen the pro-
ducing power of each man and thus to
d~epreciate his value as an economic fac
tor. Their cause is to be found in faulty
municipal arrangements which can be
largely corrected by intelligent action
and supervision. They work by pro-
ducing insomnia, aberrant forms of men
tai action. These effects accumulate
with each successive generation sub
jected to their influence until the final in
heritor finds the load too heavy to bear
and do any useful work. 1 refer chiefly
to three, and these are:
First. Disease of the upper extremi-
ties for any considerable muscular exer-
ton.
Second. The incessant noise of a large
city.
Third. Earring of the brain and spinal
cord by continual treading upon the stone
and brick pavements which make our
sidewalks and streets.
If there is one general physical differ
ence between the country bred and the
city bred man it lies in the size and
strength of the muscles of the shoulder
and arm. This use of the arms has in
both men and women an important bear
ing On the general health since it in
creases the capacity of the chest and
thereby the surface of lung tissue where
the blood is spread out in thin walled
vessels through which the oxygen and
carbonic acid easily pass in opposite direc-
lions, serving thus the double purpose Of
feeding the body more abundantly and
of removing a constantly accommodating
waste product.
A man may walk in an hour four miles
IN a city sidewalk and reach his desk
tired, exhausted of force and better only
for the open air and a slight increase of
the circulation. Had he spent half that
time in a well ordered gymnasium using
chest and rowing weights, and after a
sponge bath if he had gone by rapid
transit to his office, he would nave found
his work of a very different order, easier
w w ehu IdhlIS ltoo tlhlS W DtIIOlL I
The remedy for this state of things is to
cause every man and woman to realize
the Importance of arm exercise. Make it
compulsory in schools and popular after
leaving school.
A second injurious influence which per-
tains exclusively to city life is incessant
noise. This may not be very intense at
any time, but when continuous it acts as
certainly l1npD tba norvp,1S Svctap, nc
water, falling upon a stone. Elevated
railroads should NOT be permitted in
streets where men and women live. A
third hurtful influence of city life is
Earring of the brain by continual treading
upon stone pavements. If any one
doubts that there is a distinct and de-
cided jar of the brain with each step let
him walk 100 yards when the brain is
slightly yer sensitive from a bad cold, or
headache, and he will observe the pain
each step causes.
Now in many people, the ill effects of
these thousands of slight daily conclusions
accumulate and after a time concur with
other causes in producing that state of
disability called nervous exhaustion.
Something is needed for pedestrians which
will be durable yet not hard. Some of
the varieties of asphalt composition are
elastic, but none Of them sufficiently dur
able so far as l know. Nature suggests
a remedy in a second way in the covering
of the human heel itself, where we find a
a very elastic pad one-half an inch thick
to lessen the jar of walking. If we re-
place the perfectly hard boot heel by an
elastic india rubber one we provide an
inexpensive and practical remedy which
it would cost the wearer but a few cents
a month to keep in repair.-Dr. Walter
B. Plat.